With Mayor Gray in attendance, last night was the community meeting for the latest information about the Skyland Shopping Center that can move forward much more quickly now that the District exercised its eminent domain rights to evict some tenants. A healthy Twitter crew reported on the facts as they were announced and we have listed the main points after the jump.
· There will be 1,400 commercial parking spaces.
· They expect to break ground in spring of 2014 and Walmart to open in 2016.
· The existing houses will be videotaped during construction to make sure there is no damage.
· The first residential building will be rentals and the other two will be determined as it gets closer to completion.
· The ever-controversial Walmart is going to be a SuperCenter with groceries, eye care, and the usual Walmart goods.
· Walmart has given $21M to the city for community services (and the rep added that the company is 'misunderstood').
This is the project proposed for area where Good Hope Road, Naylor Road, and Alabama Avenue SE meet in Ward 7 and has been delayed for years because tenants wouldn't move out and many neighbors opposed bringing such a huge project to the nabe. The 16-acre site will bring many more stores, new residential buildings that will have large portions reserved for affordable housing and an entirely overhauled system of pedestrian and vehicular throughways. It will be the biggest thing Ward 7 has seen in decades.
· #SkylandMeeting [Twitter]
· @Dizzyluv25 [Twitter]
· Skyland Town Center [Official Site]
· All Skyland coverage [CDC]
· What's the Holdup at Skyland Town Center? [WCP]